The point of these quick takes post sto catch up on my “To Write About” stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
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None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of Godby Matthew Barrett |
(the official blurb)
This is a popular-level, very approachable introduction to the Attributes of God—Incomprehensibility, Aseity, Simplicity, Immutability, Impassibility, Eternity, Omnipresence, Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnisapience, and a few others. He does so using the works of Augustine, Anselm,— and Aquinas to define Classical Theism—with help from Charnock and Bavinck.
Tackling all that in 300 accessible pages is no mean feat. I cannot tell you how many times I thought as I read this that this is the book that R.C. Sproul would have written about the Attributes of God. Sure, the illustrations aren’t the ones that Sproul would’ve used—but they’re of a kind. In my books, that’s a high compliment—we need someone who can communicate like Sproul. Barrett will do fine if he continues to put out this kind of work.
This is a really helpful and useful work—I recommend it strongly to everyone.
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Alive: How the Resurrection of Christ Changes Everythingby Gabriel N.E. Fluhrer |
(the official blurb)
The book starts with a look at the evidence for the Resurrection of Christ, and why it’s important to wrestle with it and to be ready to defend it in our current culture. Then Fluhrer moves on to looking at the way the Resurrection was foreshadowed in the Old Testament, described in the Gospels, preached in Acts, explained in the rest of the New Testament, and serves as the basis for our sure hope. He covers all the bases and does so well.
Fluhrer has an apologetic goal for this book, it’s not as compelling as he seems to think it is. Which really describes the book as a whole. In the end, it’s too surface-level. It’s helpful, the theology behind it is the kind of thing we need more of—a robust Redemptive-Historical approach à la Vos and Gaffin—and it’s approachable. I just couldn’t sink my teeth into it. I liked it, I just wanted to like it more.
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The Song of Songsby G. I. Williamson |
(the official blurb)
This is a great and helpful collection of sermons. This particular book of the Bible is often misinterpreted, so having someone bring careful clarity to the text is valuable. It’s not the final word—Williamson would never claim to be. But it’s helpful.
It’s also Christ-centered. Something far too often neglected when approaching this text. Yes, there’s a focus on love, marriage, sexuality. But with the goal of bringing glory to God through that.
I really appreciated this book and will be returning to it.
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The Ten Commandments of Progressive Christianityby Michael J. Kruger |
(the official blurb)
There’s part of this that’s a tribute to Machen and Christianity & Liberalism, while being an update to it, too. To see how Liberalism is alive and well (running under the moniker of “Progressive” now), he uses two contemporary works to respond to. He stresses repeatedly that the tenents taught in these books aren’t wholesale departures from the faith. However, these half-truths are so misleading they amount to the same. Being half-truths, they’re all the more dangerous and will easily fool some.
The analysis and critique are sharp, spot-on, and easy to read. Well worth your time.
But…
I know that the point of this imprint is “quick,” but this was just too brief to be really valuable. I’d have liked some more depth, for Kruger to use more than just the two works he’s critiquing, that sort of thing. It was an appetizer—and it turns out that after a couple of bites, I wanted a meal.
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